The Last Enemy
by DragonMolly
Summary: A coming-of-age story about the Marauders and their friends from all four Houses. Includes both canon characters (Marauders, Lily, McKinnons, Longbottoms, etc) and OCs. Includes Jily, but it is later in the fic. Follows the Marauders & friends as they battle Voldemort, join the Order of the Phoenix, and so on and so forth. Updates on TUESDAYS
1. Characters

There are a LOT of characters, and until you get to know them it may be helpful to refer to this character sheet! However, it is not complete - I will update this list as I write. Characters that have a POV will be underlined. There are many POVs (think Game of Thrones) though so it may be extra useful to have this list. However, as I write, I will also update who has a POV and who does not. If someone is underlined and they don't yet have a POV, that just means it's coming up soon! There will DEFINITELY be POVs from EVERY house, and maybe even one from a teacher's view.

 **CHARACTERS**

 **Gryffindor**

Seventh: Frank Longbottom, Fabian Prewett

Sixth: Lily Evans, Mary Macdonald, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew

Fifth: Alex Brewer, Heather Eddy

Fourth

Third

Second

First

 **Slytherin**

Seventh

Sixth: Septima Chase, Persephone (Seph) Greengrass, Evanna Gregory, Ariadne Newark, Severus Snape

Fifth

Fourth: Regulus Black

Third

Second

First

 **Ravenclaw**

Seventh

Sixth: Marlene McKinnon, Franny Trevors, Matthias McKinnon

Fifth

Fourth: Ophion Greengrass

Third

Second

First

 **Hufflepuff**

Seventh: Alice Caldwell, Joey Fawkes

Sixth

Fifth

Fourth

Third

Second

First

 **Professors**

Tarik Ezana – Defense Against the Dark Arts

Minerva McGonagall - Transfiguration

Horace Slughorn - Potions


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

"Alert. This is a black alert. All students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff are to report to the dungeons immediately."

Lily was the first out of bed. In mere seconds, she had pulled on her bathrobe and attached her prefect badge to it, all the while throwing a pillow onto Mary to wake her up. She didn't wait to see if they got up before she hurried downstairs to the Common Room.

Remus and Alex had beaten her downstairs, but Heather was still a few steps behind her. Although there were some more students shuffling in, none looked alert but the prefects. They had been warned.

"Okay, guys, just like we planned it," Lily said. "I'll stay here, and Remus will be down in the dungeons keeping kids together. Alex, start taking these kids downstairs. Heather will follow with the next group in five minutes. Don't lose anyone on the way there, but run back, okay?"

"Roger that," said Alex. He turned, and started gathering up the twenty or so kids who had already made it down. In a few seconds, they trooped out of the portrait hole. Remus had already hurried away.

"This is a black alert. All students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff are to report to the dungeons immediately. Slytherin students are to stay in their dormitory."

"Black," said Lily to one of the other sixth year boys. "I need you to go back upstairs and knock on all of the boys' doors. Do that first, then go back up and make sure everyone's awake."

Sirius Black flicked his hair out of his eyes. They looked wary. "Okay, Evans," he said.

"Mary, please do the same," Lily continued, turning to Mary Macdonald. "I need to make sure everyone is out of this tower."

"Evans, what is going on?" asked a voice. She turned. It was insufferable James Potter—too full of himself to have any idea what was going on half of the time.

"There's a black alert, Potter. You're in the next group, you'll be going downstairs with Heather in…" —she checked her watch— "about a minute."

"Evans, I don't even know what a black alert means."

"Well ask someone when you get to the dungeons. There's no time right now. Heather, take the next group now. Potter, go with them."

"Evans, answer my questions!"

She whirled around, slamming her palm against his chest. Startled, he stumbled back a step. "Listen to me, Potter," she snarled. "I don't have time to explain this to you. I need to get every Gryffindor out of this tower as quickly as possible and you are not helping. Now _get_ out of this tower, _go_ with Heather, and if you have any damn questions, you can ask your friend _Remus_ when you get to the damn dungeons!"

She wasn't sure that she was hiding the quavering fear in her voice, and she was duly unsure that he would even listen to her. Maybe he was afraid because she seemed angry, though, or maybe he did hear the fear in his voice. Regardless, he nodded and followed the last of Heather's group out of the portrait hole.

"This is a black alert. All students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff are to report to the dungeons immediately. Slytherins are to remain in their dormitory."

Alex returned a minute later, huffing and out of breath. By now the majority of the kids were in the common room, at least by Lily's reckoning.

"Don't come back, Alex," she said. "Last run. Heather and I will come with the stragglers in a few minutes."

"Should I patrol the hallways at all?"

"No. Stay in the dungeons. Help Remus, if he needs any."

Alex nodded and ushered the Gryffindors out the door. Sirius followed a couple first years out of the door and Lily saw him point towards the kids piling out the portrait hole. Peter Pettigrew, one of his friends, pulled on his robe. Sirius nodded towards Alex and shooed Peter along.

"Remus and James are already down there," Lily heard Sirius assure him. Peter hurried after Alex, and the common room was empty but for Sirius and Lily.

"Evans, what's going on?" asked Sirius in a low voice.

"Not here, Black," Lily said anxiously. "Did you double check the rooms to make sure they're empty?"

"I'll do that now."

"Make sure everyone's out."

"Don't worry."

As he went upstairs, Heather came back in. Lily told her to do the same.

"This is a black alert. All students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff are to report to the dungeons immediately. Slytherins are to remain in their dormitory."

A few scared kids came down periodically, and eventually Sirius and Heather emerged.

"All out," Sirius said.

"Okay, Heather, accompany these guys to the dungeons," Lily said. "I'll stay for the final sweep."

"Lily, we're running out of time," Heather said warningly.

"I have to make sure. Sirius, go with them."

Sirius shook his head obstinately. "You're not staying here alone, Lily."

Heather hesitated, and then rounded up the ten-ish kids and ushered them out the portrait hole. Lily hesitated, looking at Sirius. Their staring contest was still at a stalemate when the portrait slammed shut.

"Fine," she muttered. "Wait here."

She ran up the girls' dormitory stairs and searched every room. All empty. She passed Sirius without saying anything and did the same in the boys' dormitories.

"This is a black alert. All students should now be below ground. We are expected impact in five minutes."

Lily turned white, and hurried out of the portrait hole.

"Hurry!" she urged Sirius. "The timing isn't exact. We're gonna have to run."

"What is going on?" he asked, but by then she had already taken off down the hallways at a sprint. "Dammit Evans!"

She didn't reply. The halls, for once in her life, were completely deserted, and their footsteps echoed down the corridor. He ran faster than her, and jogged when she couldn't keep up. When they reached the stairs, she tried to run down them as quickly as possible, but he slid down the railing. The next time they reached the stairs, she followed his lead. By the time they reached the dungeons, they were both panting.

Remus saw them immediately, and marked them down on his clipboard. He nodded gravely and hurried over to Professor McGonagall, to report that all Gryffindors were present. Lily didn't say anything to Sirius, but instead went over to huddle with the rest of the prefects.

"Is everyone here?" she asked softly.

"Everyone," Alice Caldwell, from Hufflepuff, said. Her boyfriend, Frank from Gryffindor, nodded gravely. "S…Snape came down a few minutes ago to say that all the Slytherins were in the dorms."

Lily nodded.

"Students, attention, please," McGonagall said, raising her voice over the kids' sleepy chattering. "I am aware that you are all confused."

There was murmured assent. Remus sat down wearily next to Lily.

"I apologize for not warning you all in advance, and I am sorry this had to happen Halloween night," McGonagall said gravely. "The staff meant to have a drill for this, but it was difficult to find a date which would not inconvenience anyone.

"As I am sure you are all aware, Death Eaters have been carrying out air raids at Diagon Alley and Wizarding embassies around Great Britain and the world. These are carried out by Dragon Tamers and poisonous potion bombs. The staff has been worried that they may carry out such an attack at the school.

"The prefects were told of this matter. They have acted in precisely the way we asked them to, and for this we are all grateful. We are also grateful to the rest of you, for following their directions.

"We will not be able to return to your dormitories tonight. There are sleeping bags against the wall. Please get one and find a place to sleep. If you need anything, please contact our Head Girl or Boy, a prefect, or one of the professors. Classes are cancelled tomorrow. Lights out."


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

In the first week after the Black Alert, everyone was on edge. People snapped if you sneezed in the corridor, because nobody spoke. The Ravenclaw common room was silent, for once, and kids actually studied. Those that didn't read fiction books. There was only the turn of pages and the scratch of quills. Marlene couldn't stand it.

She stayed in her dorm, for the most part. She turned on her record player, keeping the volume low, and opened the window. She sat on the windowsill for hours, scanning the grounds.

"Marlene, get the hell off the sill, you're driving everyone mad," said Franny one day.

"I'm not hurting anyone."

"You're watching the entire school with those eagle eyes."

Marlene didn't reply. She wanted to play Quidditch, but there was a ban effective on flying until Monday. The week's game had been cancelled.

The attack had been hushed up. Marlene wondered why. McGonagall hadn't replied when she asked her. Marlene wondered if she could possibly suffer going to the library. It wasn't a place she liked to frequent—she loathed perpetuating House stereotypes, particularly the untrue ones (such as the one which claimed that all Ravenclaws finished all of their homework a week in advance). Still.

She sighed and slid off the ledge. Once again she reread the Daily Prophets from the last week. There were some deaths. She took down the newspaper clippings she had already found and read the backs, just to make sure. There was no mention of Hogwarts, besides Professor Ezana's teaching grade.

Franny watched her, frowning slightly. "Mar, have you finished your essay for Transfiguration?"

"It's not due 'til Tuesday."

"It's Saturday, Marlene. You have today and tomorrow."

"And Monday."

"You have Quidditch on Monday!"

"I'll be fine, Fran," Marlene said crossly. "Stop _worrying_ so much. The essay will get done."

"Marlene, Professor McGonagall _said_ it wasn't something you could do in one day, and she's right. Even you."

"I am a perfect procrastinator. I'm not stressing over it." She stood up with a stack full of newspapers and moved towards the door.

Franny blocked her way. "Hell, no, Marlene. You're sitting down, in this room, and finishing that damn essay. When you're _done_ with it, _then_ you can go snooping around for—for whatever it is you're doing."

Marlene tried to push past her. "Honest, Fran, you're not my mother—Franny—Francine Gray, get out of my way!"

Franny wouldn't, budge, and Marlene was furious with herself for sounding so childish. Try as she might, Franny refused to stop blocking the door, and eventually, all of Marlene's newspapers tumbled out of her arms.

"Francine!"

A split-second look of guilt flashed across her face, but Marlene didn't notice it as she scrambled to collect the tossed them onto her desk and lunged across the room to try to grab the one that was floating out the window. She felt it flutter across her fingers and in desperation shouted, " _Accio!_ "

The paper returned, obediently, and Marlene put it onto the scattered stack of newspapers. On an afterthought, she laid her Potions textbook on top of them.

"See what I mean about the window?" Franny said.

Marlene merely shot her a nasty look, ripping her Transfiguration notebook and leather folder from the shelf. She dragged Marlene's desk over to the window and set up camp there.

Dipping her quill into the inkwell, she pondered the top of her parchment. Eventually, she titled her essay, "The Delicate Matter of Rendering Transparency", and began to write. Every once in a while, she'd shoot an angry look towards Franny, hoping that she would be asleep or gone. Each time, Franny still stood at the door.

An hour passed in this way. At one point, Marlene tried to convince her to let her go to the library, but Franny only asked what book she needed, and said she'd send for it. The book Marlene ended up with wasn't even useful.

"Oi, McKinnon!"

Marlene looked up, startled. The voice was decidedly male, so it couldn't be in the dormitory. She scrambled up to the windowsill to look out.

"Down here!"

She looked down. Sirius Black and her cousin James Potter, naturally. James was waving at her like a fool.

"Come down, Mar," he said cheerfully.

"I can't," she replied. "Franny won't let me out."

"Hex her," James said.

"Don't be stupid," Sirius and Marlene said together.

"Well, get down here anyway," James replied crossly. "It's really important. Like, more important than whatever it is _you're_ doing."

"Get over yourself," said Marlene, but she considered. How could she get out? She could try to get past Franny again, but...

No, the look on Franny's face said _Friends can wait till after you're done_. She wouldn't be moving until Marlene could prove she had finished her essay. She carefully set the library book on top of her parchment, to make sure that the half-essay wasn't lost to the wind. Then, she swung herself out of the window.

There were three gasps, and Marlene heard Franny run across the dorm room. Although her face appeared at the window, Marlene was concentrated on scrambling down the wall before her Sticky Fingers hex wore off. She could not discern what it was the boys were saying because she wasn't listening. About halfway down, she began to regret her decision. She was losing her grip on the wall, and it was a _hell_ of a long way down.

As her hex started to wear off, she climbed more slowly. Her wand was in her pocket, so she couldn't pull it out to re-do the hex without putting her life in even more danger. She kept looking down at the ground, trying to judge when she could jump without breaking anything. Eventually, she felt it was close enough. She took a deep breath, and let go of the wall.

She crumpled as she hit the ground, trying to absorb as much impact as possible, and immediately rolled onto her left side before straightening out. She tumbled down the short hill at the foot of the tower, and laid on her back, breathing hard.

"Are you mad?" asked Sirius frankly.

She checked to be sure her wand was still in one piece. "Yes."

"Damn, Marlene," James said, helping her up. "Wait till I tell your mother."

In a heartbeat, she set the same Sticky Fingers Hex she had used on herself on James.

"Oi!" he exclaimed. "Alright, alright, I won't tell her! Won't even tell me own mum. On m'honor, m'lady."

"Oh, shut up," Marlene said. "What did you want, anyway?"

Sirius cleared his throat, and both boys assumed grave faces. "Well, Marlene, we - that is, James and Remus and Peter and I, were alarmed by the Black Alert last week. To say the least."

"But Remus knew it was coming, didn't he? He's a prefect."

"Well, here's the thing," said James anxiously, "no one _expected_ it. Everyone was prepared for it - all the teachers and the prefects and everyone - but no one really thought it would happen. Nobody thought You-Know-Who was that...rash. Stupid. Brave? No one thought he would _actually_ attack Hogwarts, and it's gotten us in a knot, if you take my meaning."

"Well, I agree, but there's not much I can do about it," said Marlene, puzzled. "I can't just waltz into Death Eater HQ and say, 'Hey can you please not attack our school?'"

"That's not quite what we're suggesting," said Sirius.

"Quite?"

"We'd like to start a Defense club," said James brightly. "To - oh, to guard ourselves in case the attack ever comes from real ground troops, you know? I mean, sure, they're just bombs now, but what happens when they really come?"

Marlene hesitated. "I know what you mean, but...well, I mean, who would join?"

"Well, us, of course," said Sirius. "And you, and Remus and Peter, naturally. And, well, we were hoping you'd help us."

"Why me?"

"Well, Mar," said James, looping his arm around her shoulders. "Here's the thing, and you probably don't want to hear it. We're a lot the same. We're all geniuses who don't do _squat_. I mean, what were you doing up there?"

"Also, why did you choose to crawl down the wall?" asked Sirius dryly.

"Well, Franny made me stay in there to write my Transfiguration essay."

"You see? We have to literally be kidnapped and forced to do our homework, even though we are the smartest kids in school," said James. "It's a true tragedy. We should be putting our skills to good use."

"So what do you expect _me_ to do?"

"Well, Remus already looked up the rules for creating new clubs at school," said Sirius. "The rules are, you need at least ten kids and a teacher to sponsor it. However, if your club is directly related to a class - like Defense Club - the sponsor must be the teacher of that class."

"We were hoping that, since you're on the best terms with Ezana, you could talk to him," James added. "Also, like, find more people to join and stuff."

"Okay," said Marlene, dropping down and pulling some scrap parchment and a Muggle pen out of her bag. "So far, it's you four and me, right? We need five more people."

"Yeah."

Marlene thought about it for a moment. "Well, Matthias, obviously."

"Naturally," James agreed.

"And what about Lily and Mary?" Marlene suggested.

James coughed, and Sirius said quickly, "You think Lily would want to go anywhere that James was? Come on, Marlene. You're her best friend. You can't possibly think..."

"I'll talk to her," Marlene assured them. "The only thing she hates more than _you_ , James, is not being in on something. And what about Seph Greengrass?"

"The _Slytherin_?!" they exclaimed together.

Marlene stared at them, bewildered. "Have you even _met_ Seph? She detests Death Eaters!"

"I can't say I've ever spoken to her," said James, sounding surprised. "Have you?"

"I cannot _believe_ you Gryffindors," she replied crossly. "You're so close-minded. All Slytherins are evil, blah blah blah. Listen, if you can trust me, you can trust Seph. And for that matter, if you can trust Seph, you can probably trust Septima."

"Septima _Chase_?"

"Yes, of course," said Marlene cheerfully. "Sometimes I think she and Seph are closer than me and Matthias. There's no way we could invite Seph and not Septima."

James and Sirius exchanged a look. "Alright," said James reluctantly. "Invite Greengrass and Chase."

"So that's you, me, Remus, Peter, Lily, Mary, Seph, and Septima," said Marlene, scrawling their names on her spare bit of parchment and tallying them up. "We still need at least one more person."

"Fabian Prewett?" suggested James, as Sirius said, "Joey Fawkes?"

"The klutz and the pyro?" said Marlene dryly.

"Talk about close-minded!" said James crossly.

"Fawkes is a good kid, and a good guy to have on your side," said Sirius dramatically.

"Alright," said Marlene, adding them both to her list. "When and where are we having this meeting?"

"Oh, the attic of course," said James and Sirius together.

"Hogwarts has an _attic?_ " Marlene exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's huge!" said Sirius enthusiastically. "We'll meet next Friday night. There's no Quidditch, and Professor Sinistra goes out on Fridays."

"Hang on, what does she have to do with anything?"

"Oh, well, that's how you get to the attic," said James off-handedly. "You know the tapestry right before you get to the Astronomy room?"

"No."

"Oh," said James. "Well, right behind that are the stairs/bridge thing to the attic."

"Oh, is that the bridge thing that leads over to the main building? I always wondered what that was."

"Yeah, it leads to the attic."

"Alright," said Marlene. "I'll talk to Ezana, and see you this Friday?"

"Alright," they said.

"Oh, it'll be at eight, Mar," said James quickly.

"Sounds good," said Marlene. "Later."


	4. Chapter Three

"Have I ever told you that you're beautiful?" asked Frank, with his chin in his hands across the table.

"Hmm," said Alice, turning the page of her Astronomy textbook. "I believe you may have told me that once or twice."

"Did I mention that you're more beautiful than the stars in the sky, or the sunlight reflecting on the ocean?"

Alice blushed deeply, and smiled bashfully at her boyfriend. She carefully dog-eared the page of her book, and pulled out the library directory again to look another book up.

Frank watched her, his eyes soft. "Do I get to go find another book?"

She chewed on a strand of her hair thoughtfully. "Yes...Can you go grab..." She frowned at the directory. " _Phenomena of the Night Sky_ , I suppose. By J. L. Gemini."

She pointed to it in the directory, and Frank nodded. She continued to read through her own textbook. Who knew Astronomy could be such an interesting subject? But she supposed there was no future with it - what could one do with the stars, anyway?

Frank returned with a beat-up old book which was much too thin for Alice's liking.

"Are you sure it's this one, Ally?" asked Frank. "It looks like a Muggle book."

She flipped to the index, distressed. "This is the only book that might have something about Dark Matter in it."

"About what?" Frank looked bewildered. "I know NEWT level Astronomy is like, _really_ serious and all, but I haven't even heard of that."

"Neither have I," said Alice. "Wow, this book is useless. 'Dark Matter has been postulated to be the invisible force that affects gravity throughout the universe, and consequently makes up most of the universe. It is, however, invisible, and anything accepted by the scientific community is based on educated guesswork rather than fact-based knowledge.' What a load of..."

"What's 'scientific'?" asked Frank.

"It's like Muggle magic. Come on, let's go up to Professor Sinistra and ask her about it."

Frank shrugged good-naturedly and pulled on his jacket. He held up Alice's as well, and she wriggled into it after putting her books in her bag. They walked to the front desk and checked out the Muggle book, and then set off across the school. They held hands; Frank's hand was callused, but warm and safe. Alice walked close to him.

"Do you want me to carry your books?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks, though." She smiled at him. He bent down and kissed her cheek gently, and she reached up with her hand and turned his head to kiss her properly. He laughed softly, and Alice did too.

"So, have you decided where you're going to apply for an apprenticeship for?" asked Frank.

"No, not really," said Alice. "I think I might just be an Auror, you know? I mean, nobody expects you to be an Auror forever. Everyone's very welcoming to ex-Aurors looking for an apprenticeship."

"It's rough, though, Ally, you know that."

"Oh, you know I could do it, Frank. I'm not scared."

He chuckled. "That is one thing, Alice Caldwell, that you are not."

She sighed and pressed her face against his shoulder. He frowned. "You okay, Al?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just feel..."

"What?"

"I feel like everything's going to change, Frank. Like everything that's happened up to this year has just been a game. This is the year everything changes."

"If you say so," he said doubtfully.

They didn't say much more as they huffed their way up the Astronomy tower. As they reached the top, Frank slowed to a stop as they neared Professor Sinistra's office.

"It doesn't look like she's in there," he said.

Alice knocked anyway, and pressed her ear against the door. "Yeah, I think you're right. I don't hear anything, and she usually has a fire going. It's so drafty up here."

"You'd think the Divination room would be the same way. Hang on, do you hear that?"

Alice frowned at him, her ear still against the door. "I just said I _didn't_ hear anything, Frank."

"No, not there," he said, turning around in a slow circle. "It sounds like it's coming from...here?"

He placed his hand on an old, faded tapestry of some hunting scene. Alice stared at him in shock. Had her boyfriend gone mad?

Suddenly, he moved the tapestry to the side. Alice gasped. There was a passage behind it.

"This must be the entrance to that bridge thing," said Frank.

"Want to explore?" asked Alice.

"Hang on, don't you have studying to do?"

"Oh, don't be so uptight, honey. Come on!" She grabbed his hand and tugged him down the narrow hallway.

He swallowed as he glanced out one of the small, dingy windows. "You know, I don't think even the house elves come up here."

"Oh, someone must. Look, the dust on the floor is all turned up - and _you_ heard something down here, so someone must be here."

As they reached the end of the bridge, they saw a large oak door hanging ajar. As they got closer, they heard voices. They exchanged a glance, and Alice poked her head through the door.

It was a strange mix of people. Marlene and Matthias McKinnon, sixth-year twins from Ravenclaw, were sitting on the floor playing a strange game that appeared to be balancing old wands on top of each other, and avoiding the sparks they emitted when they touched. Joey Fawkes was lounging in the middle of a circle of fire on the floor, and Fabian Prewett was hastily stacking boxes against a wall, which he appeared to have just knocked over. Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald were sitting on a sofa chatting with Septima Chase and Seph Greengrass, both Slytherins. Professor Ezana, the African wizard who was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, was sitting at a desk reading a book, apparently unconcerned by the students in the room.

Marlene glanced up from her game, narrowly avoiding getting caught by blue sparks. "Alice, Frank! I didn't know James invited you. That should be everyone, though - except the boys, of course. Have you seen them? It's nearly eight o'clock."

"I'm sorry?" said Alice, bewildered.

"Here they come, Mar," said Franny Walters, who was sitting by the door.

Frank and Alice stared at each other, completely baffled, as James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin came into the room.

"Oh, hullo, Frank, Alice," said Lupin. "I didn't know you were invited. More the merrier, though, eh?"

"I don't -" Frank began to say.

"Is that everyone, Potter?" said Ezana.

"Should be," Potter replied. "Alright, everyone, sit down, sit down!"

"Why should we listen to _you_ , Potter?" said Evans crossly.

"Because I made this club up," he replied irritably.

"Should we stick around?" muttered Frank, as they bickered and everyone tripped over each other to find seating.

"It seems like a pretty good group of people," Alice whispered back. "I'm curious. Let's hang around."

"What about your Astronomy essay?"

"It's the weekend. I have plenty of time to do it."

Frank gave her a stern look but she shrugged innocently. He shook his head and rumpled her short brown hair, and they took a seat next to Fabian, one of Frank's roommates.

"I didn't realize you'd been invited," Fabian said, "we could have walked up together."

"It's fine," Frank replied.

James Potter cleared his throat, standing up front with Sirius Black. Alice focused her attention on them, but held Frank's hand in her lap.

"Now, uh, well, you were all there on Halloween," Potter began, scratching the back of his head and making his hair stand up on end. "And, uh, Sirius and I were wondering, well, what happens when You-Know-Who really _does_ attack, you know? Which is why we started this club. The Defense Club. And we thought that maybe we could just, like, meet and practice defensive skills and whatnot."

"We could set up our own defenses around the castle, in case anything happens," suggested Marlene McKinnon.

"Yeah, that too," said Black with a nod.

"Why's it so secretive?" asked Fabian crossly. "I mean, I'm sure everyone would support it."

"Because we're Hogwarts' secret weapon!" said Potter enthusiastically. "We don't want any - er - _spies_ going to the Death Eaters and telling them about us, because then, if the school is attacked, we'll have the element of surprise."

"Which is admittedly very useful for a bunch of teenagers as they battle well-trained evil wizards," said Ezana darkly. They were the first words Alice had heard him say all evening.

Sirius nodded to him. "Ezana is our esteemed teacher sponsor," he said in introduction. "He has graciously agreed to oversee our meetings and make sure everything goes smoothly."

"Essentially making sure you kids don't kill each other," Ezana added. There was collective laughter. The professor raised his eyebrows. "I wasn't joking."

There was more nervous laughter, and Fawkes emitted a few sparks. Potter laughed hesitantly.

"Anyway, as long as everyone's in agreement, we can start actually practicing defensive spells next week," Black said, lacing his fingers together and lounging back in his chair, simultaneously flicking his hair away from his face. Alice thought she distinctly heard someone sigh, though she couldn't tell whether it was male or female.

There was a chorus of agreement, and a scraping of chairs. It seemed the meeting was over. Alice glanced over at Frank, expecting him to have a bored look on his face, but there was something that surprised her in his eyes.

Excitement.


	5. Chapter Four

Seph brushed her short blond hair out of her eyes, watching Septima stride through the corridors. Her robe whipped around corners with a little snap. Seph thought that maybe if she didn't know her friend so well, she might be attracted to her. Unfortunately, she had been listening to Septima Chase snore like an old man for five years already.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked the raven-haired girl, looking at Seph sharply.

"You're hot. I was trying to decide whether I could get past the snoring."

"Ha, ha. Go find a girlfriend, you loser."

"Heh," said Seph, scratching the back of her head. "So, Septima. Are we gonna go back again next week?"

Septima didn't reply. She stormed down the steps to the dungeons, and Seph slid down the bannister to catch up with her. "I mean," she said anxiously, trying to match Septima's stride. "Everyone seemed pretty nice, and it seems pretty interesting."

"Seph, how are we supposed to keep our - _your_ secret with that lot?" the dark-haired girl said angrily. "How are we supposed to 'practice' defensive skills? It's not like class. Do you really think it'd be so easy?"

"I'm...I'm sure we could figure something out," Seph stammered. "I mean. We could have, like, defensive potions. I could brew potions. I could set up booby traps and stuff…"

"How are we supposed to explain why you're sitting in the corner brewing potions?" snapped Septima. "Seph, I'm sorry. I know it's lonely just sitting around the castle with just me - and I know -" She paused hesitantly. "I mean, I know there's some people there that we - you - wouldn't mind hanging out with. But I just don't think that we'll be able to pull it off. It's too dangerous. What if everyone finds out? What if Ezana finds out, and then he tells the other teachers? You could get kicked out. _I_ could get kicked out. We both cheated the OWLs."

"No, I cheated on the OWLs," said Seph angrily. "Your OWLs were completely - you - I mean…"

"Yes, I did all my OWLs by myself," whispered Septima. "But I still helped you cheat your way through five years of Hogwarts. I'd get kicked out too."

"Yeah," said Seph softly. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Septima. I guess I just didn't think about it. I just...Never mind. Forget about it. You're right."

Septima stopped outside the wall that concealed the Slytherin common room. "Seph, do you really want to go back there?"

"Not if it's that bad of an idea."

Septima sighed. "Seph. Do you trust all of the people in that room?"

"Maybe not Ezana like you said. But I guess if there was one teacher I trusted not to give us away more than another, it'd be Ezana. He's different, you know?"

"Yeah. Look, if you trust all of those people enough, we can go back. But you have to _be sure_ that if they found out, they wouldn't give us away." Septima sighed. "Listen, Seph. Would you trust _every single person_ in that room with your _life_?"

Seph paused, staring at her. "I guess we'll see?"

Septima sighed. "I guess we'll give it a shot. _Dragon tooth._ "

The wall opened up to reveal the Slytherin Common room, and Seph realized that they were done talking about secret meetings in attics, and secrets about her magical powers, and whether or not they could trust students from other Houses.

The giant squid was floating serenely past one of the windows, and the fire was glowing green, but the other lanterns in the common room were not lit. A few kids were studying by wandlight on the sofas around the room, and one was asleep. A couple kids were playing Gobstones by the fire, and sometimes the Gobstones would miss and shoot into the fire, causing it to change colors rapidly.

Seph and Septima quickly stepped over a few kids to get to the stairs down to the girls' bedrooms. They walked past the younger kids' dorms and finally got to their room. They found it blocked, however, by a stringy seventh-year with dark hair.

"Where have you two been all evening?" snarled Bellatrix Black.

Seph and Septima exchanged a look. They both knew Bellatrix had been obsessively keeping tabs on all the Slytherins, and they also knew that Bellatrix was probably in league with Death Eaters galore. Seph hadn't counted on her.

"We've been at the library," she blurted out.

"At the library?" Bellatrix laughed incredulously. "Then where are your books?"

"Don't be stupid, Black," Septima sneered. "We were in the Restricted Section without permission. We weren't gonna press our luck by taking out a _book_. Now we'd app _re_ ciate if you'd let us into our _room_." She pulled her wand out threateningly.

"Oh, relax," Bellatrix snapped. "Get the hell out of my way." She shoved past Seph and stormed towards the common room. Septima caught Seph as she stumbled, and pulled her back on her feet.

"I guess _they_ can't be much worse than the lot around here," muttered Septima. "What did we even do to get Sorted with this lot?"

"I cheated my way in and you're a mob boss?"

"Shh!" Septima shoved Seph onto her bed. " _I_ know why we're in Slytherin and I don't need _you_ to tell me!"

Seph laughed. "Go to bed, Septima. We'll talk in the morning."

"Take your own advice, nerd."

Seph nodded, and crawled under the covers. She didn't fall asleep for a long time. Her eyes were glued to the top of the four-poster bed long after Septima's snores joined those of Evanna and Ariadne.

Were they making the right choice, trusting those kids? They weren't Slytherin. Sure, people like Bellatrix were awful, but there was no way any Slytherin would get Seph thrown out of school. Slytherins looked out for each other - there was no way they'd leave someone in the dust. If Seph got exposed, there'd even be some grudging respect for them, for pulling off such a facade for so long.

Gryffindors, though? What if they found out and their insufferable _duty_ led them to snitch? Maybe if the Ravenclaws found out - the McKinnons - they'd have some respect for the way Seph and Septima had managed to pull off the biggest trick in Hogwarts history.

 _Potter and Black are pranksters_ , she thought. _Maybe they'd just think it was funny._

She sat up, and looked around at the other girls in the dorm. All sound asleep. She reached over onto her bedside table for her wand. Holding it in front of her, she studied it. It was a simple wand, oak and unicorn hair, that she had ordered specially from Ollivanders. She took a deep breath in, and murmured, "Lumos."

Nothing happened.

Her stomach unclenched. She couldn't have truly thought that _tonight_ , after all those years, she'd finally actually _do_ magic. It just wasn't likely.

She knew why she had been Sorted into Slytherin. She knew it had been because she had exchanged fake letters between the school and her parents for months leading up to the first of September six years before. She knew that performing cheap Muggle tricks to pretend that she could really do magic had probably affected the choice.

She tossed her wand on the table and closed her eyes. As usual, thinking about cheating into Hogwarts made her feel guilty. It wasn't just lying to the entire school - she didn't care so much about them - but to her entire family. Her little brother, Ophion, got all the brains and all the magic in the family, so much so that he got landed in Ravenclaw rather than Slytherin, and even he never knew. Their parents were sticklers for rules, and they weren't allowed to do magic at home. At Hogwarts, they didn't talk.

Ophion didn't find out, so their parents didn't find out. Seph had thought, once or twice, that she should tell them. There was so much she should tell them. She should say, "Mum, Dad, I'm a Squib", but the horror and embarrassment would probably kill them. Saying, "Oh, and I'm gay" would be like dancing on their graves. Sure, they were Slytherins, but parent Slytherins were different than friend Slytherins. Friends wouldn't screw you over, but parents probably would.

Anyway, if she played her cards right, there was no reason her parents or Ophion had to know. It wasn't like she was ever called on to do magic for them. Sure, if they were poor she might've. She might've been called on to do the laundry or the dishes with magic. But they were a wealthy family and had two house-elves, so there was never an actual reason for her to use magic.

But with these kids? They'd be called on to do magic, and would there be any point if it was just Septima doing all the magic? Septima might as well just go alone, and Seph could stay in the dorm and do both of their Potions homework. But then again, if she didn't go, Septima wouldn't go. So really, it was better for both of them to go, even if she was useless.

They'd probably die without Septima, so really it was a matter of life or death. She wasn't good for nothing.


	6. Chapter Five

Remus scrawled hastily across his parchment, trying to finish his Transfiguration essay as Sirius guided scraps of lunch to his mouth. Sirius and James could afford to not write their Transfiguration essay - what was another detention to them? But Remus and Peter were hastening to finish it, since McGonagall only gave them a day to do it and because they wouldn't get the chance that night.

Peter was lucky - he ate like a mouse, literally. He could stuff some bread and cheese in a napkin and survive on it the rest of the day. Remus had to eat like a wolf because firstly, he always did, and secondly, he'd actually need a full stomach tonight if he didn't want to satisfy his hunger in a different way.

Sirius, meanwhile, had used a Muggle cantine to stash food for himself. If it had been a Tuesday or Thursday rather than a Monday, they would have had a free period after dinner until 8 o'clock, but on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays they had Charms. Remus would be permitted to skip afternoon and evening classes, but he hated going down to the kitchens by himself and his friends weren't allowed to skip with him.

"Hey, do you think Ezana knows about your furry little problem?" asked James, with his mouth full. Peter scowled and pulled his parchment away from his spewing mouth.

"I guess Dumbledore would've told him. Or McGonagall." Remus shrugged, consulting his Transfiguration textbook about the qualitative properties of previously Vanished material. "Someone must have."

"But what if they _didn't_? How do we explain it in class this afternoon?"

"Say that I'm sick?" Remus looked up, bewildered.

"But he's our club sponsor. We can't just lie."

Remus glanced across the table at Sirius, who returned his look with a glimmer of amusement in his dark eyes. "Don't worry, Prongs," he said. "We'll figure _something_ out, I'm sure."

Remus laughed as the overhead bell rang. He needed to go the hospital wing now and sleep for the rest of the afternoon. He'd barely slept the night before, finishing the homework he had for both Monday and Tuesday, and preparing for his afternoon sleep. Once a month his sleeping pattern was compromised, but it wasn't anything like how the other Marauders' sleep was ruined. They went to all their afternoon and evening classes, and on top of that, stayed up all night.

Remus thought it mad that no one realized what they were doing. It was true that the others had tried for five years to stay up all night waiting for him to come back in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes - most of the time, really - they had been working hard to get the Animagus spells working. Many nights were spent helping Peter with everything, and the time between full moons marked how long the three had to spend with mandrake leaves in their mouths. Most of the time, Remus slept during these late nights, but recently - if it was not the full moon - he worked diligently on the Map.

The Map was their new project. James insisted that they always had a project. Their first year, it had been to discover how to get to the kitchens. It had taken all year, until they had finally tracked down written original plans for the school. They'd kept those, and had a steady supply of food for the rest of their school careers.

After that, and after Remus had confirmed that he was, indeed, a werewolf - they'd expected the confession for many moons, and rather suspected it from the start - Sirius decided that the next project would be to become Animagi.

They expected it to take a year, perhaps a year and a half, but they didn't manage it until Christmas of their fifth year. For the rest of that year, much was done getting used to their animal forms and trying to learn how to keep a full-grown werewolf in check.

The first day of school, James announced that the new project was to create the Map.

"What map?" asked Peter immediately.

"The _Map_ ," James insisted. " _The_ Map, Wormtail. We've the liberty to wander about the school at our own will whenever for as long as we could ever want so what else to do? We've got to make a map of everything, to record everything."

"James, that's most likely impossible," said Remus sternly. "As far as I know, no one has ever made a map of the entire school. It's simply impossible - there's too much that changes all the time. And too many secret passages. Forget about the passages between halls and corridors, what about the passages out of the school? They're near impossible to find at all, regardless of how easy it is to find out how to use them properly. And how are we supposed to write all that _down_?"

He went on, but James and Sirius had started solving the problems as he mentioned them. Sirius had pulled out a Muggle pencil - he kept about ten of them on him at a time, because his parents detested anything from Muggles - and had started scrawling down their ideas in a notebook.

Since then they had made copious notes, many at the young hours of the morning, and Remus spent many days re-reading them, and writing down which books to get from the library, and dog-earing and cross-referencing and double-checking nearly every "fact" they wrote down. Sirius drew elaborate notes about the layouts of rooms on scraps of parchment, and James scrawled vague notes about the directions of hallways and Peter mentioned crawlspaces between rooms that only someone very small could fit through.

As he arrived at the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey ushered him towards his bed, which still had books laying about from the month before. She pulled his sleeping potion out of the medicine cabinet and poured a bit for him. They'd discovered that it was easiest if he fell asleep, and then about an hour before moonrise Madame Pomfrey carried him to the Shrieking Shack, so she gave him a large dose - enough to keep even a werewolf asleep for an hour or two, post-transformation.

"Have you finished your homework for tomorrow?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, it's there on the table. James said he'd get it in the morning."

She looked at him appraisingly. He thought that perhaps if any teacher suspected what James and Sirius and Peter had done - were doing - it would be Madame Pomfrey. She knew Remus much better than the others.

"Be careful tonight," she said, as he gulped down his sleeping potion and handed her the cup. She drew the curtains around him, and he drifted into an uneasy sleep.

 _The forest was dark, and he had paws, and fur, but he was not the Wolf; he was just a wolf - an Animagus wolf, or a real wolf. The moon hung, fat and yellow, among the clouds._

 _The trees looked dangerous to the human part of his mind, but the wolfish part embraced them. They were friendly; normal. Something moved in the trees ahead of him. He stalked forward._

 _A flash of white. A unicorn. No creature of the forest dared to attack such a creature. It was too pure; it would destroy any beast who ate it._

 _He stepped into the clearing, bowing his head to it. It returned the gesture. He moved on._

 _The moon was growing larger. It took up half of the sky now. But it was a strange moon, not a moon he had seen before. Large. It was turning brown, closing in around him._

 _He saw wood, but not the trees. It was splintered. There were scratches. A bed. Torn blankets. Dust._

 _The Wolf snarled, and rose. It was time to Hunt. He wanted to Hunt. The moonly Hunt was sacred, and he was forbidden by this wood to partake._

 _The Wolf rose his great paw and slashed at the wood. It splintered under his claws. It did not fall. The Wolf snarled, and lunged at it. His skin scraped against the splintered wood. He felt blood. He cared not._

 _A noise. The Wolf turned. Prey. No. A stag too large to eat. A dog. A brother to the Wolf. And a rat. He did not see it at first. It was very small. It was by the dog's foot. He did not want the rat._

 _The Wolf snarled._

 _The dog barked. It wagged its tail. The Wolf sat back. The dog barked again. The Wolf felt the Boy at the back of his mind. The Boy trusted the dog, and the other animals. The Wolf hesitated. He did not hunger for animal blood, but for Man._

 _It could not hurt to allow the Boy a little control. The Wolf shrank to the back of the mind, allowed the Boy a little control. Went along with it. The Boy eagerly followed the three animals out of the wooden walls._

 _The Wolf licked his chops. At last, he was not confined! He and the Boy followed the animals, stopping to sniff at trees and growl at small animals. They scampered through the forest._

 _The animals gestured to each other with body language. Sometimes the dog barked eagerly, and sometimes the rat squeaked, but the stag rarely made a noise. It took the lead, glancing over its shoulder with its great stately head to check on the rest._

 _After a time, the Wolf, the Boy, and the animals reached the edge of the forest. The Wolf did not move, but it glanced sideways at the animals. They were in a gesture conversation. They paid little attention to the Wolf, though the Boy was trying his best to participate in the discussion._

 _The Wolf pushed him to the back of the mind and waited a moment. When he was certain they did not pay attention to him, he took his chance._

 _How good it felt to run! He paused at the crest of a hill and howled. His mistake; it gave the stag and the dog the chance to catch up with him. In one great leap, the stag tackled him to the ground. The dog was just behind._

 _He snarled, he bit, he scratched, but to no avail. He was up on his paws, being guided back towards the forest. The stag and the dog were wary now; they did not take their eyes off him again. With his tail between his legs, the Wolf stalked back to the wooden walls. There the animals waited with him, blocking the exit when he tried to go to it._

 _He paced the room, back and forth, snarling. Eventually he laid down. As the night pressed on, he could feel the Moon's power begin to weaken, and so felt himself weaken. The Boy was weak, too, he could sense as much. Eventually the Wolf closed his eyes. He could feel the Boy's panic at having almost escaped rise up in his throat. His fur shrank into his skin, and he sat up with wild eyes. He looked around. Sirius was lying in front of the door, with his paws crossed. James was standing in the corner, but when he saw Remus he laid down. Peter was asleep. They all had cuts and bruises._

 _Remus crawled over to the four-poster bed in a daze._

When he woke up, he was alone.


End file.
